


The Iron Family

by BellaP3891



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Infinity War Mention, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Team Captain America Critical, Team Iron Man, protective friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-16 03:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13046001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BellaP3891/pseuds/BellaP3891
Summary: Some random ideas of how the Stark Family would interact with the world and the Rogue Avengers.PS: This story happens inside the universe of "The Tony Stark Squad".





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, I'm just having some fun.  
> Also, English is not my first language, so sorry for the mistakes.

Steve was going to the Compound's medical bay when he heard the screaming. The fight against Thanos left many casualties, and between civilians and the military, it was a miracle that the Avengers got out of this mess with so few losses within their rank. Vision was one of them and Wanda was devastated because of this, but the android hadn't gone down easily and took as many of Thanos' forces with him as he could. The Dora and the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj were others that also perished in the battle, but would be honored for their bravery for the rest of their people's lives.

Between the Avengers there were some injuries. Some of them more severe than others and the Compound's medbay was still the only place equipped with enough tech to treat them. And this was why Steve was going there and this was why he was caught by surprise when he heard the screaming and saw a curious scene when he turned the corner.

There was a girl, whose back was turned to him, and a nurse, in the middle of the corridor. The girl was the one screaming into the nurse's unamused face and despite her 5" 2' in height, she did seem pretty intimidating.

"What's going on in here?" Steve asked, making the screaming stop instantly with the sound of his voice. The girl turned when she heard his question and Steve was struck when he saw himself under the glare of intense blue eyes. His eidetic memory screamed at him and the girl's face suddenly got a name that escaped from his lips involuntarily. "Steph." That was her name, or nickname, from the sound of it. That was what that boy called her one year ago before she kicked Steve in the shin and accused him of being a bully.

Steph's glare became more pronounced and Steve was ashamed to admit that her blue eyes were unnerving. That they were glowing in a way that didn't seem natural.

"Rogers." She spat his name like it was poison and Steve had to stop himself from taking a step back. "This idiot isn't letting me see Tony." She pointed to the nurse at her back and the man bristled with the offense. Steve even opened his mouth to reprimand the girl, but she was faster than him and promptly interrupted any scolding he was about to give. "So tell me, Rogers, is Tony really in the medical bay and forbidden to have visitors or once again you left a man behind to die, alone, in the field?" A bullet in the gut hurt less than her vicious words and this time Steve took a step back, especially when it seemed that the walls around them were trembling slightly, like they were echoing the girl's suppressed rage.

"Stephanie!" A new voice came from down the corridor and the familiar clack, clack of Pepper's heals made Steve let out the breath that he didn't even realize he was holding. The walls stopped trembling and Stephanie's eyes went back to a natural sky blue. Pepper passed by him and put herself between Steve and Stephanie. "I gave the order of 'no visitors'."

"What?! Why?" Stephanie's pout would be adorable if Steve hadn't seen the girl about to bring down the walls around them. And how she could do that he didn't want to begin to imagine.

"Because you are your father's daughter and we can't afford to have a power shortage in the Compound at this moment just because Tony is allergic to hospitals." Stephanie's pout increased and over Pepper's left shoulder Steve could see that the girl also added a puppy dog eyes to the act. An act that Ms. Potts wasn't inclined to buy. "No!" The woman said vehemently, cutting the girl's bullshit, and Stephanie gave the redhead a scowl before she took the opposite direction of the medbay and left the corridor, but not before giving Steve one last glare when she passed by him.

As soon as Stephanie left, Pepper sighed, apologized to the nurse for the girl's antics and turned to Steve when the nurse also left the corridor to get back to his work.

"What the hell happened? And father?!" Because Steve remembered clearly what Pepper had said about Stephanie being her father's daughter, meaning that Tony...

Pepper sighed again and her face showed that she clearly wanted to be anywhere else but here.

"A lot happened in the last couple of years, Rogers. One thing was that Tony acquired the legal guardianship of two very protective and very temperamental teenagers, with one of them being graced with the X-Gene, as you saw. So I advise you to be far away from Stephanie as possible. She hates you Rogers, and she will maim you if you give her a reason to. And sincerely, I won't even stop her the next time."

"Ms. Potts..."

"It's Mrs. Stark, Rogers. And I know where you were going. This corridor only lead to Tony's wing, and there is no one else there for you to visit. I thought my husband had made pretty clear that he doesn't want to associate with you lot anymore, so let me give you an advice. Stop! Stop because next time I won't stop Stephanie to launch an attack against you. Actually, I'll help her hide the body! Did I make myself clear, Rogers?

Steve didn't say anything. What would the point be? So he just nodded, agreeing with Pepper's word, and left. He wasn't planning to cause Tony more grief because he knew that he had lost all his chances of redemption, but that didn't stop him to care. Didn't stop him to want to check how the other man was. The genius was one of the few who fought Thanos directly, besides losing another son in the battle (because Vision was Tony's child, with the man liking or not the idea of being the father of a grown man), so Steve was worried, sue him, and he was also aware that he screwed everything up. But some habits, like checking on his teammates' status after a battle, were so ingrained in him that they were hard to break.

But Steve will have to break them or be at the risk of Tony's protective friends and family breaking him.

And another thing, Steve discovered what kind of powers Stephanie had when a few days later, after the corridor confrontation, he got an electrical discharge right on the butt that made him jump three feet in the air and turn in time to see long blond hair disappearing around the corner, followed by a gleeful cackling.

 


	2. Chapter 2

In retrospect, Pepper could say that the Civil War wasn't all that bad because the conflict had its bright side; it brought Tony and her back together. Okay, that was the only bright side, but even then it wasn't so bad. The Civil War helped Pepper see that she was fighting a lost battle against Iron Man.

The Iron Man identity was Tony's redemption for all the sins he committed when he was The Merchant of Death, and the ones that he thought he committed but were actually other people's sins that he was carrying on his already overloaded shoulders. Anyway, Iron Man was Tony's atonement and the armor was a way to boost the man very low self-esteem because, regardless of what people liked to believe (a.k.a the rogue Avengers), Tony wasn't so sure of himself as he showed to be. So Pepper finally understood all that in the fifth time she got into Tony's hospital room, after he was rescued from Siberia, and guarded the man's sleep while observing how tired he looked, like all his energy was sucked out from him. And it was really sucked out by those parasites called the Avengers.

But no more. Tony had the annoying habit of self-destructing, and that habit was the only thing that Pepper would try to change in the man from now on, even if she had to drag him to the therapy by his ears. And while he was healing, she would protect him. She would be his hero this time. She would be his Iron Man.

So the Civil War had its perks, and not only the conflict itself but also the disastrous press conference where they were supposed to introduce Spider-Man as the new Avenger and ended up with announcing their engagement. Pepper never said yes to a proposal so fast as she said that day, but deep down she always knew that Tony and her were destined to cross that bridge since 2008.

Their engagement was a public affair but Pepper refused to let their wedding be the same and, surprisingly, Tony agreed. So it was with great pleasure that they traveled to one of Tony's villa in Italy for their wedding, having as guests their new family and their closest friends (including a spiderling and his aunt) and exchanged vows under the bright light of the full moon, having as the only photographer present in the event a very excited Peter.

"I think we should have more." Tony said during the party, with his eyes fixed on the Keener siblings and Peter who was discussing something with Harley, probably something of scientific nature. Both boys got along like a house on fire, for Tony's eternal amusement and pride.

"More what?" Pepper asked.

"More kids." He replied and her blue eyes went to the Parkers and Keeners laughing and joking around the table. Technically Peter wasn't Tony's son but that didn't stop them from forming a profound bond.

"You think that would be wise?" It's not like Pepper never wanted to have kids, but with her chaotic life as CEO of a big company like Stark Industries, and now being married to the owner of this same company, who was also a superhero, she started to think less and less about the subject as time passed. "We're not so young anymore and a forth Stark? I don't think the world is prepared for that." Tony smiled brilliantly after Pepper's words. She said 'forth' not 'third', meaning that she also saw Peter as part of the family.

"Screw the world!" Tony said good-naturally, taking a sip of his soda. Alcohol was something that was fortunately banned from the Stark household since the Civil War. "Starks are awesome and they need more of us." Pepper laughed and thought 'why not'.

The problem was that getting pregnant was easier said than done. Pepper and Tony weren't so younger anymore and the negative backlash from the media after the Civil War, and the unfortunate return of the rogue Avengers to the US, kept them so busy that they had to put the baby plans aside to fix all the mess that Rogers and company created. Especially when that idiot man's actions only gave Ross enough ammunition for the Secretary to start a campaign against the enhanced, saying that they needed close supervision, so this meant that it wouldn't take long for the focus to go to the mutants and they didn't need this kind of problem now. Not now when they had found that Stephanie carried the x-gene.

So Pepper was so busy helping Tony, helping Rhodey and with the SI that she had practically forgotten the conversation that she had with her husband at their wedding. Besides, she already had two children to take care of, even if those children only saw her as their cool aunt. And don't get her wrong, Pepper loved Stephanie and Harley very much, would do anything for them, so she didn't care that they didn't see her as their mother, not like the way they viewed Tony as their father, because she knew that they loved her back but couldn't call her 'mom' when they still had, and would always have, very fond memories of Suzanne and none of their dad. And the lack of memories of their father, according to their therapist, was the reason why they had accepted Tony as their father so fast. So Pepper forgot about Tony's proposal of them having a baby and was only reminded of the subject when they were at Barton's farm, secured, while Tony once again was risking his life to save the world.

Thanos' army was focusing their attack on the big cities and in the countries' capitals, meaning that, so far, they were safe with the Bartons. Besides, the farm had a bunker capable to endure four atomic bombs and with enough supply to keep a hundred people going for two years. So three grown women and man (Pepper, Laura, May and Happy) and four teenagers and a toddler (Lila, Cooper, Harley, Stephanie and Nathaniel) would be easy to maintain.

But they were not using the bunker yet. For now, they were still in the farmhouse, watching the news apprehensively, hoping for the best and praying for their loved ones' safety. And since she arrived at the Bartons, Pepper was feeling nauseous, something that she thought was related to nerves, until she started vomiting.

"It's probably some bug or stress. I think it's better to keep Nate away from me until we figured out which one it is." Pepper said when she accepted the tea that Laura made for her upset stomach.

"I don't think so." Laura answered. "I know bugs. Three kids on a farm full of dirty and animals can turn someone into a specialist in the matter. I also know stress by being married to a spy and an Avenger. And do you know what else I know? Being a mom. Being pregnant and what this entails. So no, honey, this is not a bug, or stress."

Pepper was so shocked that it took her a while to form some coherent words and when they came it wasn't what Laura expected to hear.

"That's unfortunate."

"What?"

"Find out that I'm pregnant in the middle of an invasion when my child's father is facing, once again, an imminent death." Laura laughed and squeezed Pepper's hand in a show of support.

"Welcome to my life."

Fortunately, Tony didn't die but sustained enough injuries to guarantee a brief stay in the hospital, but not enough to stop him from trying to escape from said hospital... Three times. On the first try he was so weak that he didn't go farther than the room's door. The other two times he had accomplices (named Harley and Peter) and he failed again because FRIDAY was faithful to her Boss, but her loyalty was with Pepper, especially when Tony tried to do something stupid. So it wasn't a surprise when the AI announced that "Little Spark" (how she liked to call Stephanie) was trying to gain access to the Boss. And if Steph tried to help Tony, the whole Compound would suffer.

So she caught Stephanie on the act and send the girl on her way, along with Rogers who was so naive that he believed that just because Pepper opened the Compound so the rogue Avengers could get medical help after the battle, that he had a free pass to the place.

"Pepper!" Tony smiled brilliantly when he saw her at the door, like her presence there was a blessing, but his eyes were saying something different to her, because Pepper knew it wasn't exactly her who Tony was expecting that afternoon.

"I had a run in with your little minion. Nice try, by the way, but you know that we can't have a blackout just so you can make your great escape." Tony pouted and Pepper smiled. He was adorable when he pouted, even with the sickly complex, the cast in the arm, the beard and the messy greased hair.

"Spoilsport." He complained, still pouting.

"Well, someone has to be the adult in this relationship and I already have four kids to look after, I don't need a fifth in the form of my husband." She sat on the bed and patted his covered knee, with her attention fixed on the crinkle between Tony's brown eyes. Even under heavy sedation and in pain, he still had a sharp mind and was doing the math based on what she said.

"You're pregnant."

"Yes, I'm pregnant."

"Since when?"

"Seven weeks ago?"

"No. When did you find out?"

"When we were at the Bartons, during the invasion." Tony frowned and he suddenly seemed to deflate, almost disappearing under the covers. "Tony?" Pepper called him, worried. She thought that he would be happy with the news, because it was what he wanted, right?

"I can't do this anymore, Pep." Pepper's heart stopped beating for a second in her chest and her breath got stuck in her throat. "I refuse to become Howard."

"What are you talking about?"

"When I was out there, risking my life again, fighting Thanos, I was terrified. The only thing that I could think was that I had to win, I had to protect you and the kids, and now you are pregnant. I could have died and never met my child. Our child would grow up without a father."

"They wouldn't grow up without a father. They would hear about you, and be proud because their father was a hero."

"Pepper, I don't want my kids to live with only the memory of their father. I know what it's like to live like that and it sucks. Howard never had time for his family because he was too focused on changing the world and on his mission to find Captain America. I never really knew him and all I have of him are memories from stories that other people told me. And their stories don't even match what I remember about the man."

"Tony." Pepper squeezed his hand in a show of support. "What are you saying?"

"I'm quitting from being Iron Man." Quitting, not retiring, meaning that he was passing the mantle to someone else.

"You gonna trust someone else with your beloved armor? The Iron Man isn't easy to pilot, I would know because I was in there once."

"I have to. Besides, I not getting any younger, so this would have happened sooner or later."

"You have been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"And you already have a candidate for the armor."

"Yes." Tony said hesitantly.

"What, Tony? Who is your chosen one?" This time it was Pepper who frowned.

"Trust me, you're not gonna like it."

And Pepper really didn't like it when a few months later, Harley put the new Iron Man armor and flew into battle along with the Avengers.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Tony hasn't spoken to Clint in years, since the archer came back to the US after the Civil War fiasco, so he was a little surprised when he gave FRIDAY the order to accept Laura's call and instead of the woman's face he saw Clint's at the screen with Barton’s living room as background.

"Barton," Tony said coldly, as a way of greeting. Clint’s answer to Tony’s harsh tone was a barely there wince but stayed on the line.

"Tony." The archer said in a much more warmer tone than Tony's. "Cooper asked Stephanie on a date." Short and directly to the point, the way Tony liked to deal with his former teammates nowadays. And yes, Tony was aware of this, he never had anything against the tiny agents and Mrs. Barton and he actually liked that family, they protected his family during Thanos’ invasion, it was with Clint that he had a problem, because nobody knew how to hold a grudge like a Stark and Barton’s jab about Rhodey’s back was something he would never forgive and forget. Still, he couldn't get why Cooper and Stephanie dating would prompt Clint to call.

"Yes, so?"

"I just want to ask for you to go easy on him."

"What?"

"I have a girl too, Tony, and as such I know what it is to want to grab your shotgun and keep all the boys away from her."

"You think that I'm gonna use the scary parent tactic with Cooper."

"Yes."

"Barton, Stephanie is eighteen, she was trained in hand to hand combat by Agent 13, she can throw lightning bolts from her own hands and control electricity. Her last girlfriend broke up with her and you know what she did? She demolished five sandbags, and you are worried that I might scare Cooper? Really, Barton?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Clint said, boggled. He heard stories from Steve of how the middle Stark was a little shit and how the man tried to keep enough distance between the girl and him because Stephanie Keener-Stark wasn't Tony’s daughter by blood, but she still was a true Stark and very creative to make the lives of people she didn't like a living hell. And Steve Rogers was on the top of her blacklist. Actually, they suspected that he was the only one on the girl’s blacklist. Unfortunately for Steve, keep his distance from the girl was almost impossible because Stephanie was integrated to the Avengers Initiative as soon as she reached eighteen, like her brother was years before, so it was kind of hard to avoid her.

Cooper wasn't in the Initiative, but he was studying in a college in New York and working in Stark Industries, so that was why they were dating now.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Tony knew from where Clint's disbelief was coming. Stephanie looked like a freaking Disney princess. All blond hair, pretty blue eyes, perfect athletic body and a perfect smile on her round face, but differently from the fairy tales’ princess, she was far from having their passive personality.

“What the heck! I have to talk to Cooper about his choices on women."

"Why, Barton? My daughter is not good enough for your son?" Tony said acidly.

"What? No! But Cooper doesn't have a good track record with relationships, so I don't wanna him to be toasted if this goes down." Tony gave the archer an eye roll.

"Stephanie has a temper, but she also has a very good control of her powers. Besides, they are young, Barton, is not like they are getting married. At their age, relationships are not meant to last, they are just supposed to be another experience for life. Let them be. Let them learn from their mistakes."

"So… When Cooper goes pick Steph up tonight, there won't be any scary parent tactic, right?" Tony smirked malevolently and Clint paled when he saw the other man’s face.

"Rhodey and Harley are already in their armor, tuning their repulsors, and Spider-Man promised to pass by later to see his little sister off on her date."

"What the hell, Stark!"

"It's not my fault that Cooper decided to choose this girl to date. I don't know if he's extremely brave or too stupid to try. It must be a Barton thing."

"Hey!"

"Don't sweat on it, Barton. Pepper will be there." Clint sighed in relief. In that crazy Stark family, Pepper was always the voice of reason, so Cooper would be fine, she would stop Rhodes and Harley from maiming his son. "But I heard that she gave Stephanie a pepper spray as a gift."

"Stark!" Clint shouted, horrified and asking himself if he should call Nat and ask her to go with Cooper pick Stephanie up. Nat would be able to protect his son, right?

"Chill out, Barton, Cooper will be fine." Tony ended the call before another protest from Clint came through.

In the end, Cooper was fine, he took Rhodey's and Harley's threats like a champ and, as predicted, his relationship with Steph didn't last two months.

"Will your daughter kill my son?" Clint asked as soon as the call connected.

"What?"

"You know why they broke up, right?"

"Cooper cheated on Steph." Although Tony knew it wasn't really cheating. Actually, Cooper and Stephanie had their sights on the same girl, but Cooper was the one who won this round. Or maybe Cooper really cheated to get the girl before Steph. "Barton, for a man who had the codename of Hawkeye, you are blind like an old bat."

"What do you mean?"

"The girl that Cooper cheated Steph with, did you meet her?"

"I saw her picture on the Facebook."

"Do you want to know who Steph current girlfriend is?" FRIDAY didn't have to wait for her Boss' order and sent to Clint's phone the picture of Stephanie's new lover. The same girl Cooper was dating a few days ago.

"What the…!" Clint almost screamed when he saw the picture. "Seriously? And here I was thinking that I would have to deal with your wrath or Stephanie's, for Cooper having broken her heart."

"Steph is tougher than that and I told you that it was not like they were gonna marry. They only wanted to fuck. They know each other for ages and were curious to where their relationship would go if they changed the status quo."

"I always thought that you would be an old-fashioned father. The one who would protect your little girl virtue with tooth and nails."

"You hurt me, birdbrain. I'm Tony Freaking Stark, old-fashioned isn't even a word in my dictionary."

"It wasn't in mine either until I became a father. Just wait, Tony, you'll get there."

"Yeah, right."

"So… Are we cool?"

"About what?"

"About Stephanie not killing my son."

"Steph would never kill Cooper, she can't stand Lila’s pout."

"Good to know."

"Bye Barton." Tony said with amusement and finished the call. There was a lot of bad blood between the two men, but their sins should never be passed on to their children. Besides, the Bartons’, Keeners’ and Parker’s antics, when together, were hilarious.


End file.
